This week in Christian history: First openly gay UMC bishop elected, priest captured for high treason

First openly lesbian United Methodist Church bishop elected – July 15, 2016

This week marks the anniversary of when a regional body of the United Methodist Church elected the first openly gay bishop of the denomination, despite a ban on such appointments.

Delegates at the UMC Western Jurisdictional Conference elected Karen Oliveto, a then 58-year-old woman in a same-sex marriage, to serve as bishop of the UMC Mountain Sky Area.

“I think at this moment I have a glimpse of the realm of God,” Oliveto stated at the time of her election. “And know I stand before you because of the work and prayers of so many, especially those saints who yearned to live for this day, who blazed a trail where there was none, who are no longer with us, and yet whose shoulders I stand on.”

Many theological conservatives criticized the election as a violation of the UMC Book of Discipline, as well as being in defiance of the Bible’s prohibition on homosexuality.

Although The United Methodist Judicial Council, the UMC’s highest court, ruled 6-3 in 2017 that Oliveto’s election was invalid, the regional conference never carried out the process to remove her from office.

Oliveto retired as bishop on Sept. 1, 2024.